Blog - Page 12 of 13 - Pear Tree Education

Time's ticking on B.C. curriculum changes

“BC’s Education Plan: Experiments with kids’ learning” That’s the headline of the December issue of Teacher Newsmagazine, a publication sent to all B.C. teachers. Teacher’s article presents a cynical view on the plans laid out by George Abbott, the Education Minister, and the Ministry of Education. It questions the likelihood of such radical changes occurring…

Paul Romani

Chris Van Allsburg Presentation!

by Alexis Birner Recently, Paul and I were fortunate enough to hear Chris van Allsburg speak. He has always been one of my favourite authors, both during my childhood and also more recently from the perspective of an educator. Before discussing his works as an author, Chris gave the audience a bit of background to…

Paul Romani

What Changes Our IQ?

Why do children’s IQs change? by Paul Romani The “mental ability of teenagers can improve or decline on a far greater scale than previously thought.” This is the finding of an academic research article published in the j0urnal ‘Nature‘. The BBC have summarised the technical findings in more layman’s terms. While the research paper does not…

Paul Romani

Teachers with master's degrees

Finnish vs. American Views. Which do you trust? by Paul Romani Finland is recognised globally as having one of the best education systems in the world. It has been at the top of the PISA tables since 2000. The USA, on the other hand, has never once been in the top 10 in that time….

Paul Romani

Personalised Educations?

“Personalised Educations Now” – PEN By Paul Romani Oh God, not another acronym. What is it with theorists and acronyms?! This is the term used by a website I came across: http://www.personalisededucationnow.org.uk/. As someone who is actively trying to change education to make it more relevant the life of students and the country, I am…

Paul Romani

The problem with educational software

By Paul Romani There are a fair number of companies out there devoted to producing educational software. They’re exploiting the desperation of schools to jump on the technological bandwagon. While I’m not an expert on educational software, I am an expert educator and computer engineer. As a result, it’s a rare occurrence to see…

Paul Romani

"Canadian universities must reform or perish" – Globe and Mail

Paul Romani examines the Globe and Mail’s article about the need for reform The Globe and Mail states (11th October, 2011) that “Canadian universities must reform or perish”. Strong words, but true. In fact, their views reconfirm the research that Pear Tree Education has been doing. Here are the highlights of the Globe’s article,…

Paul Romani

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

Yesterday, on October 5th 2011, the world lost one of its greatest ever technological and business minds. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, will remain a wonderful role model for today’s youth: Vision: conducting market research is near impossible if you want to stay at the front of a constantly changing industry. Steve was keenly…

Paul Romani

Math is always just math, unless…

You’ve got to look at education from the perspective of a student By Paul Romani It’s tough critiquing the efforts of an educator. Take Elisha Bonnis for example: ; she’s trying hard to improve the quality of math teaching. You’ve got to admire her passion. How can you knock that? Well, you have to look…

Paul Romani

Capable of making a difference

Ray Longaeur, EAP director at Vancouver Career College, discusses his views on Paul Romani and his attempts to change education Letters of reference typically focus on someone’s past achievements, but in the case of Paul Romani, the future might be an even more relevant place to direct attention. In the field of education, where teaching…

Paul Romani